As detailed here before, the argument goes that because the people who kill American soldiers hate Israel, Israel is the cause of the killing.
As reported by the New York Times today, this argument now is rolling off the lips of Obama himself:
There is no logic to such argument. The people who kill American soldiers also hate us, regardless of what Israel does or does not do.When Mr. Obama declared that resolving the long-running Middle East dispute was a “vital national security interest of the United States,” he was highlighting a change that has resulted from a lengthy debate among his top officials over how best to balance support for Israel against other American interests....
Mr. Obama said conflicts like the one in the Middle East ended up “costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure” — drawing an explicit link between the Israeli-Palestinian strife and the safety of American soldiers as they battle Islamic extremism and terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The people who kill American soldiers, depending upon which group it is, also object to the presence of American soldiers in Muslim lands such as Saudi Arabia, to the occupation of Andalusia by Christians Spaniards, to the publishing of cartoons in Denmark, to the lack of Sharia law in Europe, and so on and so on.
Even if Israel retreated to the pre-1967 borders, thus leaving it exposed militarily, the people who hate Israel would not stop hating Israel.
What doesn't Obama understand when Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, al-Qaeda and others demand the elimination of Israel, when Muslim clerics preach that Jews are the children of monkeys and pigs, when Palestinians in the West Bank celebrate suicide bombers and teach hatred of Jews in their classrooms?
It's not about where the border is drawn. Only the elimination of Israel will suffice.
So where does appeasement of the haters lead us?
Achieving a "lasting peace" in the Middle East has been a long time goal of U.S. policy, and criticizing Israeli settlements is nothing new. To pursue such policies is not to be "anti-Israel."
But we are at a whole new level when we seek to blame Israel for the deaths of American soldiers. It is a blood libel, plain and simple.
Our only true friend in the Middle East has become our enemy, the killer of American soldiers by its mere will to survive.
Finding demons is the stock-in-trade of this administration. I called them on it at the beginning of the Obama presidency, Barack Got Enemy.
Whether it is the "rich," the insurance companies, the "lobbyists," the "extremist" and "dangerous" Tea Parties, or whomever, there always is an enemy against whom a policy is directed.
Now that enemy is the sole democratic outpost in a sea of intolerance, dictatorships, and Islamic fundamentalism.
None of this is a surprise to those of us who were honest in the run-up to the 2008 election. I saw it coming, based on the people with whom Obama had surrounded himself, and his style of campaigning.
I do not believe that Obama wants to destroy Israel. I do believe that Obama wants to bring Israel down a few notches, end the historic special relationship as he did with Britain, and use Israel as a pawn in Obama's vainglorious escapade to make people like us.
Some President you elected, American Jewish community.
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Too many people believe that those in the Middle East who hate the USA do so only because of US support for Israel. It's an absurd but popular polemic, and one that dovetails well with our President's preferred rhetorical style (as you so clearly noted).
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad and irrational response, but apparently not one that's going to go away soon.
This is something that many on the left of whom I am acquainted have been waiting for. During the Bush administration it was sufficient to lay blame for lost blood and treasure on Bush and his advisors. Now that Obama has his hands on the reins it is necessary to look elsewhere. So...blame the Jew.
ReplyDeleteI was discussing the wars with a left-leaning family member a few weeks back and they were still cemented in the "Bush's fault' syndrome. I asked them "at what point will it be permissible to lay blame at Obama's feet in the same fashion as it was towards Bush?" They went off on some rant about Bush starting it, so fine, I gave them that. But if there's one man on Earth in a better position to bring it to an end other than Obama...then name him. I added that, far from bringing it to an end, he's been steadily amping it up. He has, in fact, chosen NOT to end the wars, but to continue them. That has been HIS CHOICE.
The honest anti-war protesters (and I know there are plenty) have continued to protest. But that vast majority of pre-January 2009 anti-war activists were simply nothing more than political opportunists. It was easy to blame Bush for each and every American death and to a certain extent they still do. It'll be a cold day in Hell before they blame their Chosen One.
So...blame the Jew.
Indeed, the Muslims HATE Americans, and that won't stop if we suddenly halt Israeli support. However, to me this is what baffles:
ReplyDelete"Some President you elected, American Jewish community."
How can US Jewish voters support Obama - STILL - when he is so blatantly anti-Israel? Given what Deekaman says, above, perhaps it is because of a falling-away from their faith. But I can't understand how people can deny themselves - because, as WWII made crystal clear, the hate won't stop at Israel, just as it did not stop at the borders of Germany. The Muslim fascists will not be satisfied until all Jewish people are eliminated, just as the Nazis were not satisfied until they exterminated every Jew in Europe. Your reference to the obvious,
"...Muslim clerics preach that Jews are the children of monkeys and pigs, when Palestinians in the West Bank celebrate suicide bombers and teach hatred of Jews in their classrooms...."
should be shouted to expose this enemy. But, the media is silent - complicit, IMHO.
"First they came...." repeats itself.
America abandons Israel at our own peril.
Some, like Ed Koch, are disappointed (such a lame expression) in Obama's treatment of Israel. I think the presence of Rahm Emmanual (reported to be a devote Jew)in the WH made me want to believe Obama would continue our alliance with Israel.
ReplyDeleteObama's fatal conceit is believing the Middle East has a solution he can understand and implement. I do not believe he capable enough of managing America's divisions let alone tell Israel what to do.
Remember during the campaign when GW gave a speech in Israel that set off Obama. It is well worth reviewing here:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/bushs-remarks-in-israel-rile-obama-camp/
Prager says it best, Liberal Jews are Liberal before Jewish in terms of religious dogma
ReplyDelete"I do not believe that Obama wants to destroy Israel."
ReplyDeleteThat's where we differ. For I also saw this coming two years ago, and saw it incubating for a generation before. I grew up and went to school with the Alinskyites, the Saids, the Chomskys -- and understand Obama to be their ultimate political evolution, their exemplar. The end of Israel has been the desideratum of these people for as long as I can remember -- an operative article of faith. Obama will collude in every action -- or inaction -- which brings this possibility closer.
Sadly, I just spoke with one such member of our community. Supposedly a supporter of Israel, yet she fails to see any unfairness in Obama's treatment of Israel or danger for the nation. Confronted with the fact that 96% of Israelis disapprove of the President (and see the danger), she retorted that she rather have a President that the world respected (not Bush).
ReplyDeleteApparently nothing short of a direct attack on Israel at the direction of Obama would shake some of the liberal Jewish community and I'm not sure even that couldn't be rationalized to accommodate Obama worship.
"When Mr. Obama declared that resolving the long-running Middle East dispute was a “vital national security interest of the United States..."
ReplyDeleteWhatever would we do without Obama to clue us in to the painfully obvious? But this declaration begs the question before you can even continue the discussion - Do you think the dispute can be solved?
If his answer is yes, he's either titanically stupid, narcissistic, or he favors one side over the other. Or any combination of two, and possibly all three (clinical narcissists aren't usually stupid.)
In bowing to Russia's sensitivities on multiple fronts and over multiple issues, Obama has emboldened Putin and Medevev to accelerate their plans to reinstitute the glory days of the Soviet Union. The cold war is back. Obama doesn't care.
ReplyDeletesee my post:
Obama's Cold War Encore.
Don't blame the entire Jewish community, some of us, like me, were intelligent enought to see what an anti-semitic narcissistic looser Prez-Zero happened to be and how he would undermine and try to destroy Israel. We also saw that he would try as hard as he could to ruin this country, that he apparently thinks the US is the root of all evil in the world. How else to explain his affiniity for dictators, tyrants, and oligarchs while turning his back on every democratic ally we have, bankrupting this country for outdated and unsuccessful fiscal policies and his concept of wealth distribution. The truth is since he can no longer blame George Bush for the problems this country faces, he needs a new boogieman, so why not pick the most ancient of scapegoats- the Jews. Learned that one very well at his moslem stepfather and communist grandparents' knees didn't he. I guess his friendship with Wright and Khalidi just helped his upbringing along.
ReplyDeleteBut truthfully you shouldn't just be angry at the Jewish community, the majority of people in this country of over 300 million voted that man into office. There are only 6 million Jews in the US and 25% of those were intelligent enough to see through his nonsensical rhetoric. But nontheless Obama isn't all their fault of the Jewish community either. I blame stupidity and selfishness in general. People thinking that someone else will pay their bills and that they would never be held to account for their foibles. Blame those in general who just didn't want to be grown-ups anymore and that it is easier to blame someone else for your issues (bankers, republicans, necons) rather than the fact that you personally screwed up somewhere along the way. Thank heaven for the Tea Party, at least some people in this country have regained their senses. Hopefully its not too late for any of us to recover and to survive.
Noting can erase the history of US and Britain in the establishment of Israel. No single President's policy can change that association in the minds of the men and women in the Middle East.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that Obama wants to just "take Israel down a few notches". The Left now embraces the Islamist ideology of Israel's elimination, having moved far beyond the "two-state solution" and other formulations which allow Israel to remain viable. Obama was an acolyte of Said, a famous eliminationist; all of his background is with these people. The "middle east problem" in his eyes is entirely the fault of Israel. The solution is to remove Israel, he just can't be too explicit about it. And the destruction of Israel a win-win for Obama---he thinks all those Israelis will emigrate to the US and become loyal Democrats!
ReplyDelete"They went off on some rant about Bush starting it, so fine, I gave them that. "
ReplyDeleteThe excuses never end. If you pushed harder, they would have blamed in on Bush '41, or Reagan, or Nixon, and so on. Heck, you can still find leftists blaming economic problems on Hoover!
Being a liberal means never having to say you are responsible.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Palm Beach Jewish vote just help another Liberal easily win a Congressional seat this week? When are the Jews going to realize that the Liberals hate them except for their money and vote? And talk about anti-Semites! The Left has so many instances of anti-Semitic hate you could fill a book with it. Is there no one in the American Jewish leadership able to wake up the Jewish community?
ReplyDeleteOne can only hope that, before too long, the scales will fall from the eyes of American Jews and Obama will have become the uniter he promised--just not in the way he meant.
ReplyDeleteWell, you should take a look at things over here on the Catholic side of things. Equally discouraging as far as devotion to The One goes. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteHow dare Obama suggest that Israel's actions might endanger American troops! His reckless rhetoric and appeasement policies are encouraging our enemies and putting the lives of Israeli soldiers at risk.
ReplyDelete